River attracting the wrong sort of attention

Man in River Roch in Rochdale Town Centre on Friday night

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The new river openings in Rochdale Town Centre are attracting attention for the wrong reasons, as emergency services were called out to deal with two separate incidents over the weekend.

A fire service spokesperson said: “We got a call at 10.20pm Friday night (2 September) that a person had fallen into the River Roch.

“Fire crews from Rochdale, Heywood, the Heywood water unit, and a tech unit from Ashton attended.

“We used a nine metre ladder, rope access equipment, lighting and a stretcher to get the person out.”

A police spokesperson added: “We were called at 10.20pm to a man in the river. It was not clear if he fell in or climbed in.

"No charges made as no criminal office had been committed.”

On Saturday (3 September) there was another incident of a man in the river.

A fire service spokesperson said: “We got a call at 10.27am to the River Roch in Rochdale Town Centre on Saturday to a man in the river.

"Two fire engines from Farnworth and one from Leigh assisted the man out of the river.”

Town Centre hairdresser Greg Couzens, who campaigned for the river openings, said: "Absolutely ludicrous that we are experiencing this problem.

"The financial cost regarding fire, police and ambulance to the tax payer would be interesting.

"I still firmly believe that opening our river was the right move, unfortunately we have a small minority of fools to cater for."

The incidents follow a man having to be rescued from the river just two weeks ago:

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/104637/man-rescued-from-river-after-trying-to-retrieve-five-pound-note